Looking for a recipe for the superbowl tomorrow or perhaps a pot luck some other time? Then try this Slow Cooker Beef & 3 Bean Chili – sure to please a crowd. Don’t get me wrong, I love this recipe for a regular family meal, not to mention the leftovers freeze well for later. But next time you’re entertaining, by letting the slow cooker do the work, you’re free to take care of other odds and ends with your dinner party.

This slow cooker chili is a crowd pleasing recipe that is as easy as it is tasty. I especially like to use this recipe for entertaining because I do all the hard work on the main event early in the day and have my hands free to make corn muffins, dessert, or just take care of last minute details before my dinner guests arrive. This chili would also make a great recipe for any day of the week in your standard dinner rotation.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

2 15-ounce can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 15-ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2 15-ounce can of stewed tomatoes

2 15-ounce can of no salt added tomato sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon turmeric, optional

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Direction:

Pre-heat a pan over medium heat and brown beef. Skim/drain oil.

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on Low heat for 8 hours. Note: You could probably do 4 hours on high, but I haven’t tested this out.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I eat the same thing over and over again. I mean, how many times can I eat a fried egg and toast, right? So, it’s nice to have some very-different things to try…like my latest and greatest…

…a quinoa breakfast bowl.

You’ll need cooked quinoa (it only takes about 20 minutes to make, so you could theoretically do it in the morning, but leftovers would work, too).

You’ll need kale. I mean…wouldn’t it be great to eat some veg first thing?

I could have cut it, but I decided to save a knife-clean up and just tear it.

I made a quick tahini sauce using some pantry ingredients.

The sauce was no-cook…just whisk together.

After a quick layering of ingredients, you have a beautiful, Southwest quinoa breakfast bowl to enjoy. Between the quinoa, beans and egg, this should be a very filling and protein-rich breakfast.

I have lots of ideas for some great variations, but feel free to tweak as you like.

Inspired by the quinoa bowls at Cafe Gratitude Note: This is more of a non-recipe than a recipe since you can use portions of your preference. Below are guidelines for what I used to make a single serving bowl.

Author: Diana of thechiclife.com

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 1

Ingredients

Quinoa Bowl Ingredients:

1 egg

½ cup cooked quinoa, re-warmed if needed

3 leaves of tuscan kale, rinsed and torn into strips

¼ cup black beans, rinsed and drained

¼ tsp each cumin, paprika, chili powder

dash cayenne pepper

salt, pepper to taste

Tahini Sauce Ingredients:

1 tbsp tahini

½ – 1 tbsp water, depending on how thick you like the sauce

juice of half a lime (or you can sub a splash of red wine vinegar, about ½ tsp)

dash cumin, paprika, chili powder (use more or less depending on how strong you want the flavor)

dash cayenne pepper (use more or less depending on how spicy you want the flavor)

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Quinoa Bowl Directions:

Fry your egg to your liking, seasoning each side with salt and pepper to taste (a light sprinkling)

Meanwhile, steam your kale for 2-3 minutes

Meanwhile also, mix your quinoa with about 1 tbsp of sauce.

And you’ll also want to mix your black beans with the cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, along with some salt and pepper and warm through either via the microwave or stovetop.

Layer cooked kale in the bottom of a bowl. Top with the quinoa mixture. Top with the black bean mixture. Top with a fried egg. Drizzle additional sauce on top.

This week on The Chic Life, I’ve been featuring breakfast you can take on-the-go. You can check out my previous posts one, two, three, and four.

One quick note I want to make is that you should only try breakfast on the go if it’s absolutely safe for you to do so. The breakfasts I’ve prepared this week are easy to eat without needing much hands-on time so you can drive safely. But you could also enjoy them walking, taking public transportation or otherwise not at your house. Breakfast on the go is only a good idea if you can do it safely.

So…I’ve saved one of the best for last…

Portable Breakfast #5 – The Breakfast Burrito

The breakfast burrito has the potential to be the messiest portable breakfast of the group, but if prepared properly, it can be quite neat. The nice thing about the breakfast burrito is that like many of the other breakfasts featured this week, it is highly customizable. You can put almost anything in the tortilla and call it breakfast.

There are a few things I shoot for in my breakfast burrito:

Eggs

Cheese

Veggies

And I really like to add beans, usually

Today, I was running a bit late for work, so I had to forego the avocado I was planning to slice up and stick in my burrito. Oh well…busy or not, I was happy to have something to eat for breakfast. This was certainly a step above the days when I was “too busy to eat breakfast” ever and consistently skipped breakfast.

Step 1: Scramble eggs (or tofu)

Be sure to season eggs with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, heat up your tortilla according to package instructions.

Brownie points for using local, cage-free, organic eggs.

Step 2: Add cooked egg to warm tortilla.

Step 3: Add other ingredients

Today I kept it simple with some black beans I rinsed, drained, and microwaved to heat up. Like I said, I wanted to add avocado, but simply didn’t have time. When you’re pressed for time in the morning, sometimes you have to know when to let some things go.

Note: I also think bell peppers or jalapenos would be fabulous in this.

Step 4: Fold up the breakfast burrito

Tuck the bottom edge up.

Tuck the top edge down.

By tucking in the top and bottom, it will make it easier to keep this meal neat.

Tuck in one side.

Then, tuck in the other.

There, you have a breakfast burrito!

Wrap your burrito in aluminum foil. Try to not wrap it up too much or too tightly. You want to be able to easily access it when you’re trying to enjoy your breakfast burrito on the go.

Step 5: Enjoy!

And you’re ready for the day!

Today, I actually had good luck with traffic and got stuck at fairly few stoplights. This was good for my commute time, but bad for eating on the go. It seemed dangerous to try to eat the burrito in the car while I was doing heavy maneuvering. So, I decided to wait till I got to my office to crack open my burrito. Safety first people!

***

TGIF btw! I had dinner with some friends tonight and decided to enjoy the dinner instead of worrying about photos. Great way to start the weekend!

Ready for a veggie burger that won’t crumble apart on you? Ready for a veggie burger full of flavor? I’ve got the perfect recipe…Southwest Quinoa Veggie Burgers Recipe (Vegan).

This recipe uses cooked quinoa. So, you can either use leftover quinoa or cook some for this recipe. It’s fast and easy.

This recipe also uses lots of yummy fresh veg!

And this recipe also uses a micro-baked potato, which is easy to make…

Micro-Baked Potato Directions:

wash potato

pierce skin in several places

loosely wrap with paper towel

microwave 5-7 minutes, till a fork easily pierces through and center is tender

After your prep (quinoa, veg, potato), you’re pretty much just a whirl away in the food processor.

I like this Southwest Quinoa Veggie Burgers Recipe (Vegan) because you can easily prep it ahead. If you’re entertaining, you can make the burger mixture in the morning or the day before. Day-of, you just have to form patties and bake away.

Baking is only the main cooking method. If you’re grilling out, follow the baking directions for cooking and re-heat the veggie quinoa burgers on the grill.

Get some fresh vegetables prepped for toppings. I used organic romaine and heirloom tomatoes from my garden.

Move mixture to a bowl and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (this will help the mixture to set and make it easier to form into patties. You can prep your recipe up to this point ahead of time if you’re entertaining and move on to the next step when you’re ready to cook)

When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Form the veggie burger mixture into patties (or balls) and place on the prepped baking sheet.

Bake 18-22 minutes, till burgers are lightly browned on top (note: if you’re entertaining, you can also cook the burgers ahead of time and re-heat them on the grill)

I was running later than I would have liked today, so I made breakfast quick so I could spend time prepping lunch: coffee, Power Toast (spelt bread, Barney Butter, pepitas, hemp seeds, and ground flaxseed).

I can’t remember at the moment if I told you but I sort of twisted my ankle last night leaving the dinner party. I stepped on a curb wrong and though it didn’t hurt immediately, I knew I needed to take it easy.

So, though I really wanted to go for my usual double-header workout tonight, I decided to play it safe by:

wearing flats to work

skipping my workout

and trying to eat anti-inflammatory foods

RICE would probably be a good idea, but since I don’t have a laptop, the Elevation part is going to be a challenge. I should probably try some ice next

Stupid ankle. I googled sprained ankles and I don’t think it’s anything serious (I was barely a level 1 on the article of 3 levels of sprained ankles I found), but I also believe that you should try to take things easy so you don’t make a non-situation turn into a problem. Better to be overly cautious IMO.

Speaking of anti-inflammatory foods, here are the top foods I googled:

ginger

garlic

green tea

turmeric

blueberries

cherries

curciferous vegetables

salads – dark green lettuce, spinach, tomatoes

salmon

grass fed beef and other animal foods

olive oil

kelp – also kombu, wakame, nori, arame

papaya

sweet potato

Kath had a great post today on anti-inflammatory foods if you want some more tips.

I also had some Galaxy Granola with blueberries and vanilla almond milk.

While I waited for my friends to call about our girls’ dinner out, I prepped some food for lunch tomorrow. I experimented with a new recipe.

Organic black beans, all nice and rinsed.

I placed mine on a paper-towel lined plate to help them dry off.

Quiona, frozen organic sweet corn, black beans.

Organic lime zest.

Organic limes.

The zest looked so pretty in the olive oil.

All mixed up and ready to dress.

Ta-dah!!! The finished product. Even hubby liked it. This Southwestern Quinoa salad would make a great vegetarian or vegan meal or side dish. Perfect to take to work or a pot luck or cookout.

Southwestern Quinoa Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup dry, uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeds, minced

3 tbsp chopped, fresh cilantro

2 limes, zested and juiced

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

heavy dash garlic powder

dash cayenne pepper

Directions:

Cook quinoa. Rinse quinoa and combine with water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil and simmer on low till water absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. I used a non-stick pan so it wouldn’t stick to the bottom. Reserve 1 cup of quinoa (I reserved 1 cup so I could use it in another recipe. It would probably be fine to just add all the quinoa to this recipe if you didn’t have another way to use the reserved quinoa, but I encourage you to try it as a breakfast hot cereal – check out tomorrow’s post for details on how to morph it). Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl (preferably with a lid) place cooled, cooked quinoa, beans, bell pepper, corn, jalapeno, and cilantro and mix gently to combine.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving, to allow flavors to combine.

Enjoy!

By the time I was done prepping lunch, it was time to meet my friends, Kat and Megan, for dinner. I brought them a sample and they approved.

I was pretty boring tonight and had a couple bites of Kat’s edamame, a small salad with ginger dressing, and miso soup.

Plus, I had a Cali roll and asparagus roll. I thought about getting a big veggie stir fry since lots of veggies seem anti-inflammatory, but then I got the sushi for the sea veggies instead. I also ate all of my pickled ginger tonight!

No dessert for me tonight, but boy do I wish I had a couple of these to nosh on!

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